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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178961">Catch Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomRegina/pseuds/FandomRegina'>FandomRegina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Douxie shorts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Comfort, Gen, Series: Wizards (Tales of Arcadia), Stress, claire and douxie have a sister and brother relationship, claire is concerned, douxies under a lot of stress, i love douxie sm, tales of arcadia - Freeform, the gang come to NYC for vacation and visit douxie, they really care about eachother too</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:35:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomRegina/pseuds/FandomRegina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr Anon:  Could you write a fic where the gang (Toby, Jim, Claire, Krel, Steve) visits Douxie, Nari, and Archie in their small New York apartment? Maybe with some emotional catching up, with Douxie talking about the amount of pressure he’s under while protecting Nari?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Archie &amp; Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Claire Nuñez, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Jim Lake Jr., Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Krel Tarron, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Nari, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Steve Palchuk, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Toby Domzalski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Douxie shorts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Catch Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys! If you want to see any Douxie shorts written put it in the comments or send me an anon on Tumblr!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Are you…cleaning?” Archie asks, staring at Douxie in disbelief as he wipes down the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I am,” Douxie responds, tossing the wipe in the trash. “Is there something wrong with that?” He crosses his arms to stare at Archie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, nothing at all. I’m just curious since today is the day that your friends from Arcadia are flying into New York.” Archie teases as he jumps up onto the counter. Douxie groans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon Arch! I just wiped that down!” Brushing Archie off the table, he groans, grabbing his head as he sits down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Douxie?” Archie jumps up onto the chair next to Douxie, softly bumping his head into Douxie’s arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” Douxie lifts his head to look at Archie, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a headache, Arch. Nothing to be concerned about.” Archie squints at him but, before he could say anything, Nari comes into the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are voices in the box again; however, they say that they are here to see you, Douxie,” Nari says, her voice soft. “Should I allow them in?” Douxie smiles, standing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll let them in, Nari. Stay here.” Douxie walks past her to the door to buzz his friends in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on in, guys.” The door unlocks and Douxie waits for them to get upstairs. When they finally knock, he opens the door and greets them. “Welcome to my wonderful adobe!” Jim, Claire, Toby, Krel, and Steve laugh and enter the apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Glad to see you teach,” Claire greets, giving Douxie a hug on her way in. Shoving Jim slightly, the boy stumbles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, sorry, good to see you, Doux.” Jim smiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good to see you two too.” Douxie laughs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Douxie! What’s good, my man?” Toby greets with a fist punch. Douxie laughs and happily returns it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Toby. Hey Krell, Steve,” Douxie turns to his last, and final, guests. “Make yourselves comfortable.” Douxie closes and locks the door. “We don’t have much room, I’m afraid, but that’s a one-bedroom apartment for you.” Walking towards the largest room in the apartment, the gang was already sitting down and chatting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for letting us into your place, Teach,” Claire says, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, thank you for visiting this lonely old man on your vacation.” Douxie yelps as he nearly trips over Archie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are not lonely, nor are you that old.” Archie teases, walking over to Claire to sit in her lap. Claire happily lets him and begins to pet him. Douxie laughs, shaking his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Drinks anybody? I got some water, orange juice, and grape juice.” As his guests say what they would like to drink, Douxie pulls 5 cups from his cabinet and the drinks. As he pours 3 glasses of water, and orange juice, and grape juice, he listens as they all talk about being excited for their senior year. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s another battle of the bands, Douxie,” Claire says as he puts the bottles back in the fridge. “You should come and watch since last year’s didn’t quite go well.” Douxie smiles sadly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would love to, Claire, but I need to stay here and protect Nari from the Order.” Grabbing three of the cups, he hands the waters to Jim, Steve, and Toby. Walking back over to the table, he grabs Krel’s orange juice and Claire’s grape juice. They all thank him. “You could send me recordings, though.” Douxie follows-up, seeing the sad look on Claire’s face. “I would love to see you and your band perform.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you’ll see more than just hers!” Krel interjects, playing an imaginary DJ board. “My music, as my sister calls it, is lively!” Everyone shakes their heads, laughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s one thing to call it,” Jim mumbles. Claire elbows him. He smiles sheepishly as he rubs his arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How have you been, teach?” Claire asks, taking a sip of her grape juice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you know. Hiding here, hiding there, putting up every protection barrier I can.” Grabbing a seat from the kitchen table, he spins it around and sits, leaning forward against the backrest. As he does so, he misses the concerned glance between Jim and Claire. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where is the Green Lady, anyway?” Steve asks, looking around for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s probably in my bedroom watching TV.” He shrugs. “She loves watching cartoons about magic to see how inaccurate they are.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are they usually?” Toby asks, finishing off his water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, they usually have it down pretty well. There are many ways to practice magic and perform it, so there no one wrong way, just like there isn’t one right way.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, what do you know.” Jim muses, taking a sip of his own drink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How have you been, Jim?” Douxie asks. “Surely transitioning from being a troll to human again has been..” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Frustrating?” Jim finishes, raising an eyebrow. Douxie chuckles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For lack of a better word, yes.” Jim shrugs, sinking into the couch slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honestly? It’s been pretty hard. I’ve gone from eating </span>
  <em>
    <span>things</span>
  </em>
  <span> for the past few years to actually having to cook and eat regular food again.” He moves his cup in circles, staring. “Everything is different now. Again.” He laughs, shaking his head. “The only thing that hasn’t changed is my friends, though.” He looks at Claire and the rest, smiling. Douxie smiles along with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been doing great, too.” Steve smiles. “Gotta keep Arcadia safe while you </span>
  <em>
    <span>slackers </span>
  </em>
  <span>take time off.” He makes air-quotes around time off and everyone rolls their eyes. “The only reason Arcadia hasn’t been completely destroyed is because of yours truly.” He smirks. Douxie chuckles as he fake bows towards Steve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Toby yells, staring at Steve. “I’ve helped too, you know!” Steve ignores him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we thank you for your service, Sir Steve and Sir Toby. ” Everyone chuckles along with Douxie as Steve relishes in the praise and ignores Toby’s objections about him working alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They talk for a few more hours about how life in Arcadia has changed and how their own lives have changed since the Arcane Order came to town. Douxie listens to Jim as he talks about his re-adjustment back into human life, Claire with her study of shadow-magic, Steve and Toby with their protecting of Arcadia, and Krel of his ‘holding down the fort’ while his sister is off at Akaridion-5 fixing things. Soon, it came time for the group to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you guys go on ahead. I’ll catch up.” Claire says, placing a quick kiss on Jim’s cheek. The four head out the door, leaving Douxie and Claire, and Archie, alone in the living room. “Ok, Doux. Be straight with me here. Have you really been doing ok? You seem exhausted.” Claire asks, concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been fine, Claire. Really.” Douxie smiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s been having headaches lately. Not only that, very little sleep.” Archie replies, jumping up on the table. Licking his paw, he returns Douxie’s glare. “He won’t listen to me, so maybe he’ll listen to you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doux…” Claire says, her voice filled with worry. “You can’t just push yourself like that. You know that, right?” Douxie rubs the back of his neck, opening his mouth to try to find the correct answer. “What happens if the Order comes and you can’t fight and protect Nari because you’re too weak from not enough sleep? Or enough to eat?” Douxie sighs. Claire crosses her arms. “That’s what I thought.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t get it, Claire.” Douxie tries to defend himself. “I can’t ask Nari to use her own magic because the Order will be able to trace her and I can’t protect her while I sleep. Even when I do try I-“ Douxie pauses. Sighing, he runs his hands through his hair. “I have nightmares…” Claire’s glare softens. Walking over to the table, she sits, motioning for Douxie to do the same. Complying, he sits across from her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you have nightmares about, Doux?” Claire asks quietly. She waits patiently for Douxie’s answer as he sits there, thinking. While he is, Archie jumps into his lap and lays down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have nightmares…about loosing all of you the same way I lost Merlin.” Douxie combs his hand through Archie’s fur, feeling how soft it is. “Except you’re all killed by the Order instead of Arthur. I have the ability to save everyone… but I’m not able to in time.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Douxie…” Claire sighs. “We’re not going anywhere, you know that, right?” Douxie looks up at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I do. I just-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you don’t need to protect us. And I’m sure you don’t need to protect Nari to the point of you barley getting any sleep at night. We can all defend ourselves. We’ve faced the Order before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we almost didn’t survive…” Douxie interjects. Claire gives him a look. “Sorry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right. We almost didn’t.” Douxie raises an eyebrow but lets her continue. “But Arthur is gone. They don’t have a puppet anymore. It’ll be 7 on 2. It’s like you said before you left- the only way we can protect our world is if we do it </span>
  <em>
    <span>together.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Douxie shakes his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Using my own words against me, eh?” Claire puts her hand out, and Douxie takes it. She squeezes it lightly, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have us, Douxie. We’re not going anywhere.” Douxie smiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You promise?” Claire nods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Promise.” The two stand and release the hands of each other. “You know where to find us, ok?” Douxie nods. Grunting slightly as Claire practically runs into him, he sighs, returning her hug. The two stay there for a few seconds before Douxie lets go. “Why don’t you join us sightseeing tomorrow?” Claire asks as she walks towards the door. “I bet you and Nari could get out of here for a day to walk around. Have you taken her to Central Park yet?” Douxie shakes his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but I would love to join you all. I’m sure Nari would be thrilled to go too.” Claire smiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great. I’ll tell the rest that you both will be joining us. See you tomorrow, Teach.” Claire says, waving as she walks out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you tomorrow, C-bomb.” Closing the door behind her, Douxie sighs, smiling. Turning around to go into his bedroom, he was right when he said that Nari was watching TV.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nari,” He says, gaining her attention. “We’re going out tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are we going?” She asks, not pulling her eyes away from the TV. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Central Park.” Finally, she turns towards him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A park?” Douxie nods. “It sounds lovely.” She smiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Watching the TV until it's dinner time, Douxie eats and heads off to bed, leaving Nari to do… whatever she does while he sleeps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, for the first time since he arrived in New York City, Hisirdoux Casperan gets a full night of sleep with no nightmares. He wakes up refreshed and ready to see his friends once more. </span>
</p><p> </p>
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